The Kavalan Distillery is a Taiwanese whisky distillery owned by the King Car Group, located in the Yuanshan Township, Yilan County, Taiwan, China. The distillery is named after the indigenous Kavalan people who originally lived in the Kabalan Plain of what is now Yilan County. The distillery was completed in December 2005, produced its first spirit in March 2006, and released its first bottling in December 2008.
Following the initial production runs, Kavalan acquired a series of new, much larger German stills to expand production. After experimenting with these stills from 2008 to 2010, they decided to retire them as they produced a spirit that was too heavily processed, preventing them from working with texture and flavor.
In January 2010, one of the distillery's products made headlines when it beat three Scottish whiskies and one English whisky in a blind tasting in Leith, Scotland, on Burns Night. The distillery was named "Whisky Visitor Attraction of the Year" by Whisky Magazine in 2011, and its products have received several other awards.
Kavalan is made from the mineral-rich meltwater of Snow Mountain and aged in a unique combination of intense heat and humidity, along with sea and mountain breezes. All of this contributes to the quality, smoothness, and fruity character for which Kavalan is known.
In 2012, the Solist Fino Sherry Cask Malt Whisky from Kavalan was named "New World Whisky of the Year" by Jim Murray in his guide Jim Murray's Whisky Bible. In 2015, Kavalan's Vinho Barrique was awarded the Best Single Malt Whisky in the World at the World Whiskies Awards. In 2016, Kavalan's Solist Amontillado Sherry Single Cask Strength was named the World's Best Single Cask Single Malt Whisky at the World Whiskies Awards.
